


Makeover, Make-out

by Tentaculiferous



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Activism, F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Makeover, Makeup, Opposites Attract, Politics, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tentaculiferous/pseuds/Tentaculiferous
Summary: Sam was still convinced that Paulina was the most shallow creature on earth, truly a wicked witch...but she was a goth, and goths like wicked witches. Plus, it was kind of nice being around someone whose response to a burp wasn't to throw up their hand for a high-five. Paulina showered every day, which wasn't something she could say about her two male best friends.Or, the one where Paulina really wants to do a makeover on Sam, and Sam somehow lets herself be talked into it.
Relationships: Sam Manson/Paulina Sanchez
Comments: 7
Kudos: 49





	Makeover, Make-out

Did Paulina think Sam Manson had a good look? Not at all. That black, purple, and green getup was hideous, and her haircut didn't flatter her angular face at all. When their chemistry teacher's droning got especially boring, Paulina liked to discreetly stare at the goth girl sitting at the lab table across from her. 

She would mentally try out different hairstyles for the goth, sometimes even different hair colors. She was pretty sure Sam dyed her hair. Paulina had seen Mr. and Mrs. Manson at one of the parent-teacher meeting nights (they'd both been impeccably groomed and lavishly dressed, and she'd been shocked to see that the student that trailed behind in their haughty wake had been the loser goth girl). 

Paulina didn't know which of her parents she took after, but she thought Sam would be cute as a blonde or a redhead. 

'Did I just think that loser was cute?' Paulina wondered. She studied the loser's bone structure, and her slender, athletic form. Paulina decided there was no shame in believing Sam was _potentially_ cute, if she a had a sudden change of heart and started doing something with her looks. Or Paulina somehow got her hands on the goth for a make-over...

Change that hideous purple lipstick for a soft pale pink. BURN those hideous combat boots and change them out for some pumps. They could even be black ones, Paulina conceded. The skirt was ugh, who wore plaid anymore besides Scotsmen, Catholic schoolgirls, and people pretending it was 1994? 

A dress would be good, the ultimate article of femininity and delicacy. Something light and soft and airily draping. Pink would be best, although Sam's hatred of the color was well-known, and she would have to be forced into such a thing kicking and screaming. Light blue could be alright. Purple would look good too, as long as it wasn't too matchy with her eyes. That could get tacky.

The bell rang as Paulina was considering accessories. She gathered her books to head out, the loser trio walking by her. Apparently she hadn't been as discreet in her staring as she thought. 

She heard the goth girl's acerbic voice, that always seemed to cut Paulina to shreds, mutter to her friends, "Why was Puddleina staring at me more than usual? Is there something on my face?"

The tech-geek loser laughed. "Why would Paulina stare at _you_?" 

She heard Fenton second that disbelief. Why would a fashionista, the most popular and beautiful girl in the school, take notice of Sam Manson of all people? A bossy, badly-dressed activist nut, a shrill feminist that probably didn't even shave her armpits?

Paulina wished they were right. That she had no interest in the goth girl and no reason to be staring at her. But it wasn't true, and she'd have to be more careful about hiding her fascination with the loser girl. 

She wished too, that Sam Manson seemed to think as highly of her as her two male friends did. That make-out—er, makeover—was never going to happen.

* * *

  
Sam slammed her lunch tray down at their usual table, one Recyclo-Vegetarian salad bouncing in the air from the impact. 

"Wow, what's got you so ticked?" Tucker asked. 

"That stupid, shallow, vapid, ballet-flat wearing—"

"So, Paulina." the two boys chorused. 

"More like Puddleina." Sam grouched.

"Oh no, not more bad nicknames. I have to hear enough of those from Dash." Danny said.

"She actually came up to me, after math class, and asked me to come over to her house this weekend for a makeover!" Sam spat. 

"Uh, you got asked out by Paulina? I find that hard to believe." Danny said, sipping at his milk. 

Tucker snickered. 

"Obviously not!" Sam snapped. "She was just doing it to make fun of me. Like I'd want to look like her anyway! Also Paulina would be LUCKY to date someone like me."

The boys both cracked up. "That is...a LOT of confidence in yourself, Sam." Tucker said, wiping at one eye. 

"You know what? Fine. I think I'll take her up on her stupid little makeover. Concealer washes off after all. And I'll be laughing the entire time, knowing you two would be dying to get into her bedroom, even if it was so she could put lipstick on you." With that, Sam grabbed her salad and stalked away, probably to find Paulina. 

Danny and Tucket stopped laughing, looking glum. Sam wasn't wrong. 

"She's evil." Tucker said. 

"I know Tuck, I know."

* * *

* * *

"Your facial structure is so good Sam, once you wash all that awful black and purple off. It had your face looking like one big bruise!" Paulina exclaimed. 

Her make-up brush worked busily along Sam's cheeks as she talked. 

There was a mirror in the vanity in front of them, but Sam couldn't bring herself to look. She knew what she would see. Pink. Her parents would be overjoyed if they spotted her coming home like this. She hoped she could make it to the bathroom and scrub it all off before her Mom saw. Pamela didn't need any encouragement in her war to make her 'Sammykins" into a pretty pink princess. 

Sam just gritted her teeth and endured the different shades of pink descending on her face. She had even let Paulina put her in one of Paulina's own pink blouses.

"We don't want the colors to clash!" Paulina had said. Sam agreed. She didn't want to catch even a glimpse of her normal clothes matched with the hideous shades of pink and red that were meant to "maximize" her beauty to appeal to patriarchal norms. She feared she'd never be able to shake the mental association and would have to burn her clothes. 

Paulina had mercifully let Sam borrow a plain black miniskirt as her bottom. Sam wouldn't fit most of her jeans and skirts anyway. Her hips were a lot slimmer than Paulina's. Something the other girl crowed over endlessly. 

"You're so tiny Sam. It's sooo cute." Paulina had gushed. 

Sam had rolled her eyes. What was Paulina on, trying to butter her up? She knew what Casper High’s queen thought of her—that she was an ugly loser with hideous fashion taste. Paulina wasn't going to convince her otherwise, no matter what devious, shallow plot she was trying to use Sam as a pawn for. 

"Yeah, tiny." Sam said, flexing one arm. Her bicep bulged admirably. 

Paulina scoffed. "That's not what I mean and you know it. Although you really should watch all that weight-lifting. It's going to give you man arms." 

"'Man arms'? Paulina, I—" Sam covered her face. She didn't even know where to start with this bullshit. 

"Don't worry, they're okay as they are. Just don't let them get any bigger." Paulina said, patting her arm reassuringly. 

Sam silently vowed to double her time spent in the weight room. 

Paulina was continuing on, "It's okay to lean more on the 'athletic' look. Girl jocks have a good place in the hierarchy. But you don't play any sports." Paulina paused in thought. "Maybe you could try out for the soccer team?"

"I am not trying out for the soccer team just to become more popular. Team sports aren't exactly my thing." Sam said drily. 

Paulina shrugged. "It's probably for the best. Those girls' calves are way too bulgey." she shuddered.  
"What do you do to stay so thin?" Paulina asked, running a thumb over Sam's concave, toned stomach. 

Sam held her breath while the other girl's delicate finger trailed over her abdomen, the pale pink nail gently grazing her flesh. 

"Is it that diet you're on? Ultra-recyclo whatever? Maybe I should try that." 

"You? Go vegetarian?" Sam laughed. 

"Why not? Meat is super fattening." Paulina said.

"That's probably the most shallow reason to give up meat ever, but whatever helps stop animals from being cruelly caged and killed, I guess." Sam snarked.  
Paulina took her hand away from Sam's waist. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. That attention had been a little...intense. 

"You think I'm so shallow." Paulina said. "But I like animals too. We even have a cat. His name is Mr. Fluffykins." she tapped one of the photos stuck around her mirror. It showed a slightly younger Paulina cuddling an enormous Maine Coon. 

"Yeah, that's definitely the same as being a committed animal rights' activist." Sam said. 

Paulina studied her collection of eyeshadow with the seriousness of a surgeon about to operate. 

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it? I can't go stand at some protest all day. Think about what that would do to my skin." she looked slightly nauseated by the thought.

"Oh of course, that's what's really important." Sam said. 

"You know, it's okay to put yourself first sometimes Sam." Paulina said. "It's really sad seeing you sacrifice yourself for all these 'causes' of yours. And what does it really do?" 

Okay, now she was really pissing Sam off. "Excuse me for giving a crap about something other than if my hair looks good." she snapped. 

"Are you worried about your hair?" Paulina reached out and fingered Sam's black locks, examining the thick, silky hair between her fingers. "You have good hair. You just need a more flattering cut. Your bangs are so harsh." 

"Ugh!" Sam growled. 

"I didn't mean to offend you. God, you're so touchy." Paulina rolled her eyes. "I just mean, you can have both you know. You can care about things and also _take care of yourself_." 

She selected one of the eyeliners. "Like this." She explained. "This is one of my favorites. And it's vegan and hasn't been tested on bunnies! I'll use this one for you, because some of my older ones aren't vegan. They're all cruelty-free though." 

She rested one hand on Sam's face, and began gently applying the eyeliner. 

"Why do you care if they're cruelty-free?" Sam murmured softly. 

"Like I said, just because I don't want to spend my entire life marching holding a sign, doesn't mean I don't care about things. I do what I can to help in small ways." Paulina said. 

The seriousness of what she was saying was undercut by the starry-eyed look she had, staring at what her amazing make-over had done for Sam already. _Such a beautiful girl, she just needed it brought out._ And Paulina was the one to save her like, a knight in shining armor!

Although she was more the beautiful princess type, and with those arms, Sam was more suited to be the one on horseback swooping her up...

"There's no ethical consumption under capitalism!" Sam said, her voice stronger and more certain than before. 

Paulina snorted derisively. "That's so black and white. Don't you think that's a little childish?" she asked. 

Now she just needed the perfect lipstick...

"No!" Sam said. "It's not childish to devote yourself fully to things that really matter!" 

"Okay, okay. I don't want to argue about it. You do activism your way, I do it mine." 

"You are _not_ an activist." Sam said.

"Sure." Paulina said, her mind more occupied with lipgloss shades. She didn't care what Sam thought of her political efforts. She got that Sam defined herself mostly by them, that it was her thing. Her excuse to be shouty and not put any effort into her appearance...Paulina suppressed a snicker. 

"So what kind of exercise do you do? Since you don't play sports." Paulina said. 

"One-track mind much?" Sam asked. She'd been over at Paulina's house for an hour now, and everything they'd talked about had been related to appearance in some way. Paulina could claim she wasn't shallow, but all she ever talked about was bodies, or material things (usually make-up and clothes). 

"What do you mean?" Paulina asked. 

"Nevermind." Sam said. "Anyway, we have a fitness room at the house, so I use that for weight-lifting. I usually go out to jog in the morning before school—

"Oooh, really? Me too!" Paulina said. 

"Don't most people? That bother, I mean." Sam said.

"No. Most of my friends want to get their beauty sleep. Star goes to the gym in the afternoon. But I could never run on a treadmill in a gym."

"Really? I would think you'd want to exercise indoors only. No humidity to frizz your hair, no UV to damage your skin—"

"My hair doesn't frizz. And there's a product for that." Paulina said.

"Of course there is." Sam said, her mouth curling up in a smirk. 

"Oh, you're going to look so cute when you do that in this shade!" Paulina said, wielding a lipstick. "Pucker up."

Sam obligingly puckered her lips. 

"And there's no UV rays at 6AM. And even better, no one to see me all sweaty." Paulina shivered. "It's bad enough I sweat sometimes...just a little mind you...during cheerleading practice. It's not my fault though! Star might be tiny but she's still a whole person. She's heavy." Paulina complained. 

"Don't worry, I'm not going to think less of you for sweating...like every other human being on earth." Sam said. 

"Hmm, then maybe I can trust you...to be my running partner?" Paulina asked, she lowered her eyes, peering up through the lashes at the goth girl across from her. It was a look that never failed to make boys melt. It did nothing to defrost the ice queen across from her. 

"Why would you want _me_ to do anything with you?" Sam said, her tone was hard, her lovely violet eyes suspicious (that color was to die for, and they weren't even contacts! Paulina had asked.)

"It's lonely, running alone. There's no one to admire my beauty." Paulina said, winking. 

"Oh, well if that's all." Sam said, her voice teasing. 

It was weird. She almost wanted to say yes. Sam was still convinced that Paulina was the most shallow creature on earth, truly a wicked witch...but she was a goth, and goths like wicked witches. Plus, it was kind of nice being around someone whose response to a burp wasn't to throw up their hand for a high-five. Paulina showered every day, which wasn't something she could say about her two male best friends. 

The really appealing point was that Paulina would argue back at her on things. Danny and Tucker had gotten to the point where they mostly tuned out her rants, they were so obliviously apolitical. At least Paulina would listen to her and offer some commentary, even if it was shallow and stupid. 

Maybe she could even crack some social consciousness into that empty, pretty head. Just a smidgeon. Like the reverse of what had happened here today. In this room, Paulina had transformed Sam's outside...and now, Sam would try to change Paulina's inside. 

It would probably be a flop. But if it turned out Paulina had some wicked, evil shallow witch plan, Sam would make sure she got a snapshot of her all sweaty from running...the blackmail material would surely nullify whatever Paulina could come up with. 

"Come on Sam. " Paulina mock-pleaded. "After all I did for you today..."

"Okay. It's the least I can do after your generosity today." Sam's voice was laced with sarcasm, but warm nonetheless. "I'll meet you outside your house at 6 tomorrow." 

She wasn't prepared when Paulina squealed and kissed her on the cheek. "I can't wait!" the other girl said. 

"Did you just kiss me?" Sam asked. 

"And look!" Paulina turned Sam towards the mirror. "It didn't even leave a mark. That's the power of smudge-proof lipstick."

**Author's Note:**

> From their first interaction, I knew I had to write fic for them XD 
> 
> As always, any feedback or critique is appreciated ^^


End file.
